Praying Backwards Chapter 8

It is great to be getting back to our Book Club reading. I apologize to those of you who have been keeping up with the book via this blog. The last two weeks seem like blur to me with so much going on here at home. But I was once again refreshed with Mr. Chapell's teaching. Chapter 8 is titled "Praying God's Will" and even though I believe we have touched on this subject many times before, he gets down to some good specifics and practicality of "How to pray God's will" or "How to know God's will".
He begins...
"How can we know God's will? No question has been asked more often...There's good reason for this question...Even the apostle Paul did not always know God's will. Paul acknowledged 'We do not know what we ought to pray for' (Rom. 8:26)...
Our humanity limits our knowing many specifics of God's will. Still the Bible teaches us to pray according to His will. How do we do that? The fence posts in the snow help explain.
To pray in accord with God's will, we do not need to pretend to see all the details of the road into the future. Instead, we determine if our prayers are heading in the right direction by steering between two spiritual fence rows: the fence of biblical righteousness and the fence of Christian prudence. On this prayer journey we may without shame confess we do not know what to ask for , but if our prayers are kept between these fences, we can be confident that they are within God's will."

So the two questions we always need to ask before we pray: Is what I am praying for righteous? And also is it guided by Christian prudence? It is important to note that prayers outside these parameters are not in His will. Mr. Chapell goes on to give some very practical and common illustrations of what constitute these requests.

"God's Word is more authoritative than personal feelings or priorities. Mess with that order and you will pray outside of God's will. In praying to wed a non-Christian to whom they are romantically drawn, Christians give their feelings greater authority than God's Word".

I have to pause a minute here, because so often what we hear is "Doesn't God want me to be happy?" "Can it every be wrong to love like this?" or "I can witness to this person in a marriage and God will save them". Here, it is clear that we have let our personal feelings guide and even validate what we know to be contrary to God's will. What God desires is for us to be protected and content...happiness is just to arbitrary. What makes one person happy may not necessarily make the other. So God desires for us to live under the protection of His Word. God delights in the obedience of His children. When we see His Word as precious and good, we will gladly wait upon Him to bring us His good. That might be saying no to that relationship and waiting on Him even depending on Him.

Mr. Chapell gives some additional examples..."In praying for God to harm someone we refuse to forgive, we vent our anger in a heavenly direction but ignore the directions of God's Word. Praying for a house to sell while keeping buyers unaware of its problems make our relief more important that our testimony. Our feelings become our authority whenever they determine the priorities of our prayers. In essence we pray in the name of our comfort, or anger, our ambition or our lust. Imagine how that sounds to God. Praying in Jesus name requires that we give His Word authority over our desires. We can and must do this in faith that the Good Shepherd will always guide us in the path that is best."

This chapter takes us deep into conviction. It is not just opinion but conviction that God's Word is Truth and a requisite for Christians. God's Word calls us to take every thought captive under the authority of Christ. To let our feelings lead us in prayers is like sparking a wild-fire. It will lead us down wrong thinking, a wrong view of God and ultimately shows the world the ambiguity of God's revealed will. That is where relativism comes in...in today's culture there are no absolutes. Whatever you desire, just by simply wanting it, entitles you to it. But we must be careful to examine our desires and place them within the parameters of God's revealed Word.

Any thoughts or comments?

Tomorrow...obeying God's revealed will...how important is it?